From left, Anne Giroux, treasurer for the Marquette County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and Marquette County treasurer, looks on while Fred Grandchamp of the Northcrest Group Inc., addresses the Marquette County Board Tuesday. (Journal photo by Cecilia Brown)

MARQUETTE — The Marquette County Board of Commissioners at Tuesday’s meeting unanimously approved a proposed brownfield plan for the site of the former Cenex fueling station in Marquette Township. Board approval followed a public hearing regarding the matter. There was no public comment during the hearing.

The county board’s approval follows the Marquette Township Board of Trustees’ unanimous approval of the plan at an April 16 meeting. The Marquette County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority had also reviewed the plan for the site and recommended it be approved.

The approved brownfield plan will allow local developer Northcrest Group Inc. — which purchased the former Cenex station property in December for $1.2 million and plans to invest over $3 million in it — to be reimbursed for some costs related to preparing the site for redevelopment.

The property is brownfield eligible because an environmental site assessment had “identified contamination in soil and groundwater at levels above Generic Residential Cleanup Criteria,” the brownfield plan narrative states.

“This site is probably one that most of you are familiar with. It’s a pretty prominent location in a very busy part of Marquette Township, so there’s definitely some development potential on the site,” said Anne Giroux, treasurer for the Marquette County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and Marquette County treasurer. “But also because of the previous use, (there are) some challenges and some anticipated costs to any developer that’s coming along to develop there. Because it’s a gas station facility with some antiquated equipment in a building that’s beyond its useful life, there are some brownfield-eligible expenses associated with the site.”

Due to the status of the site, there are multiple brownfield-eligible activities that will need to be done prior to reuse, according to the brownfield plan narrative. They include removal of seven underground storage tanks; an asbestos survey and potential abatement; demolition of the building, canopy and associated former fueling station equipment; site demolition; and dust management and potential contaminated soil management activities including proper disposal.

“The site’s current condition is an impediment to redevelopment,” the narrative states. “Removing these conditions will help expedite the ultimate redevelopment of the site. Once this site is redeveloped, it is anticipated that the surrounding property values will increase.”

The brownfield-eligible reimbursable expenses in the plan are around $408,000 of the anticipated $3.4 million private investment, Giroux said. Marquette Township, Marquette County and other taxing entities will continue to collect revenue based on the property’s current taxable value.

“The developer will complete and fund all the eligible brownfield activities,” the narrative states. “Once completed and confirmed by the MCBRA, as taxes are paid on the new, improved property, the tax increment from all taxing jurisdictions will be captured over time to reimburse the developer.”

Reimbursement to the developer will occur through brownfield tax capture over 23 years, Giroux said. Once the property is redeveloped, the developer would pay taxes on the property’s increased taxable value and would be reimbursed for the brownfield-eligible costs based on the brownfield plan and the current millage rates.

“The brownfield plan provides an incentive to the developer through tax increment financing, which essentially allows them to be reimbursed for those brownfield-eligible expenses over a period of time,” Giroux said.

Board Chairman Gerald Corkin said the plan “looks like a good kind of project,” as it offers a chance to put a dormant property to use and “collect the same amount of taxes that we’re collecting right now and hopefully create some jobs and some value going forward,” as it’s expected to generate about 20 full-time jobs.

Commissioner Karen Alholm asked if the Northcrest Group intended to develop or sell the property after the clean-up.

“We really haven’t made up our mind yet,” Fred Grandchamp of Northcrest said. “We have a plan actually — we’re meeting with the township tomorrow morning — that shows our proposed development of the project. But if somebody were to come along — and we’ve talked to a national firm, a couple regional firms — if somebody were to come along and say ‘We want you to abandon your development because we want the whole piece,’ I guess we’d be open to that, but right now we’re moving ahead.”

What prompted her question, Alholm said, is that she is “hoping when this is developed for reuse the developer will be looking at hiring local contractors.”

Grandchamp said, “As long as we are in the project as part of the development team, we would use local contractors, we always have and we plan to continue to do that.”